Any Divers who find themselves in London in February may well enjoy a visit to The Big Scuba Show.

(At this point I should probably declare my interests; in that I had a stand at the 2011 show selling my jewellery. However I also intend to exhibit at other dive shows so I’ve no real bias towards this event)

The show is held at Kensington Olympia. Olympia is best reached via public transport, it has its own station on the District line of London’s tube. If you are driving it is outside London’s congestion charge zone, but for someone with my sense of direction it’s still perilously close so make sure you don’t make a wrong turn on your way there.

The show itself consisted largely of stands stocked with dive kit or tour operators offering diving holidays. The Egyptian tourist board also had a big presence there as did several expedition advisers including Coral Cay who despite its aquatic sounding name is also concerned with rainforest conservation and research. There were some more off-the-wall exhibits including masseurs, a giant paddling pool filed with Zorbs, opportunities to experience scuba, snorkelling or re-breathers (the re-breather companies were offering some quite enticing kit+training deals), even a TV celebrity who seemed to have hired a stand to promote himself. A group of divine looking freedivers had a stand thats only purpose seemed to be making us mere mortals feel inadequate about our ordinary human bodies and lung capacities. Talks and seminars ran throughout the show and a few charities made an appearance including MCS, Sea Shepherd and the Royal Marines’ Commando Spirit Appeal.